Fans of the Music City Drum Corps cheer as the group is about to perform at the annual competition for Drum Corps International, a competitive marching band organization, Friday, July 25, 2014 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. Steven S. Harman / Tennessean

A tuba player from the Santa Clara Vanguard performs at the annual competition for Drum Corps International, a competitive marching band organization, Friday, July 25, 2014 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. Steven S. Harman / Tennessean

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The group, part of the Drum Corps International circuit, wrapped up its first home performance in weeks on Friday by leading off The Masters of the Summer Music Games at Vanderbilt Stadium.

The 100-plus member group of high school and college students kicked off the program with its "Go West" show. As the percussion grooved through the beat in the music pit, the brass and color guard flowed through their routine while blasting their music to the top of the stadium.

The show was the squad's first after traveling for shows though Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Arkansas since June. The team spent days on buses and nights sleeping on gymnasium floors after hours of practicing and performing at each stop.

Coming home for a brief break and a show in front of a hometown crowd was special for the families both on and off the field, said Katiana Nicholson, one of the corps' drum majors and a Murfreesboro native.

"To be back here with the drum corps family, it's just amazing," she said.

After the show, some of the corps' friends and family came back to reunite with their corps members. Some hadn't seen their relatives for weeks before the show, including Barry Shepherd, who came in from Charlotte, N.C., to see his 15-year-old daughter, Parker, play trumpet.

"It's the most exciting thing in the world to see your daughter perform in a group as close to perfection as possible," he said.

By Saturday night, the squad's hometown welcome will already have finished. It will make stops in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa before heading to Indianapolis to compete in the DCI World Championships.